Siheyuan: A Cook in the 60s

Then I memorized the entire prescription.

There seemed to be a gleam in the old man's eyes.

He nodded thoughtfully.

"In that case, he is one of our own. From now on, you can get the prescription from us. Do you know the several stages of body refining?"

"I don't know." Cao Wei answered honestly.

"I don't know, old man."

Cao Wei: ???

No, are you just teasing me?

"Hahahahaha, the old man is just teasing you." The old man laughed a few times. "However, the old man does know that when practicing, you need to change the medicine. This decoction of medicine you have can only be used in the initial stage. The next one will have to be heavier and replaced. Most warriors will increase the dosage. And some will simply start over with the entire prescription. Do you have any more prescriptions for the rest?"

"Yes...right?" Cao Wei was a little embarrassed. It was impossible to say no, but he hadn't practiced to that level yet. The system didn't seem to be planning to give it to him. If the old man asked, how would he answer?

"Okay, that's fine. Let's put this aside and talk about studying medicine."

At this point, Cao Wei became a little hesitant.

"Just tell the truth."

"I want to study, but not medicine." Cao Wei decided to tell the truth.

"This is interesting. Please tell me in detail." Old Master Yang became interested.

It was Yang Menglan who glared at Cao Wei.

Cao Wei shrank his neck and organized his words: "This is what I think. When cooking, sometimes we also need to use some medicinal materials, such as "tangerine peel" and "star anise". They were not used for eating before, but for treating diseases. If I learn this knowledge, can I explore more auxiliary ingredients? In this way, can I make my dishes taste even better?"

"Also, can I use the food I cook to treat patients?"

Mr. Yang nodded as he listened, and then he made a comment: "So, you plan to follow the path of pharmacy."

Medicine and pharmacy have been inseparable since ancient times, but medicine and pharmacy are two different fields.

Medicine can be understood as the understanding of the human body. Whether it is Chinese medicine or Western medicine, it is a discipline developed based on the study of what diseases have occurred or what is missing in the human body.

Medicine, on the other hand, is more inclined towards biology, studying the effects of various organisms. At most, when conducting research, it tends to focus on herbal plants.

"Right, that is it."

"This is not easy." Old Master Yang sighed, "I have studied all my life, but I have only learned a few basics. Do you really have this idea?"

Fur, that's definitely being modest.

Cao Wei doesn't believe that he can tell that he is practicing physical training just by looking at himself or touching himself. Even his master's wife can't tell.

"So, I will study pharmacy for my whole life."

"That's probably it."

"That's no problem."

"Huh?" Old Master Yang widened his eyes, somewhat incredulous.

Cao Wei shrugged his shoulders and said, "People will get bored if they only do one thing. It's not easy to find something they can do for the rest of their lives. Now that I have one, I'll just do it."

“Hahahahaha.” Old Master Yang laughed heartily: “Okay, okay.”

Then he stopped laughing and held up two fingers: "But, if you follow me, there are two tests."

"You say."

"First, you must have memorized the books I gave you before this."

Cao Wei nodded. In ten days or so, he had memorized part of it.

"I need to check. If you pass, then we will move on to the next test."

The old man is quite trendy.

Cao Wei thought to himself: "Okay, let's get started."

"Since you are interested in pharmacy, let's start with Shennong's Herbal Classic."

After some questioning, Cao Wei's answers were quite acceptable.

“I’ve never memorized it before.”

"No, I just memorized it these days."

"Okay, the second test is, cook a meal for me, the old man. I just happen to want to eat Mapo Tofu today. There are five of us here. The kitchen is on the left as you exit from here. You cook a meal and I, the old man, will taste it. If it tastes good, you will pass."

What kind of test is this?

Cao Wei was somewhat speechless. How difficult could it be to cook a meal?

"Let me warn you, if you don't show real kung fu, I won't recognize you as an old man. I'm serious."

"Okay, just wait and see, I'll get it done right away." Cao Wei rolled up his sleeves and went to the kitchen without saying a word.

After Cao Wei left.

Yang Menglan then spoke with concern: "Grandpa, is there really no problem with his physical training?"

There is a difference between training the body and practicing the body.

If it is just traditional physical training, boxing, exercising, and sweating, then it is nothing. But if it is serious physical training, to activate the body to a certain degree, the complexity is beyond the reach of outsiders. In ancient times, there was a saying called "poor in literature and rich in martial arts", and the reason why "rich in martial arts" is rich is that it requires the assistance of various medicinal materials.

When you first start to train your body, you only need to eat good food, such as white flour buns, meat, and other nutritious foods.

When it reaches a certain level, you need a prescription and practice with the standing meditation. At this time, even if it enters the dangerous period, if you don't practice well, you may get a stitch in the side and become disabled. When you get through this level, you need to increase the dosage of medicine. In the end, you need to use the method of medicinal bath, which requires an astronomical number of medicinal materials.

This astronomical figure applies to both ordinary people and powerful families.

Let me put it this way, what does a serious master need to go through?

The hard work of training in the coldest days of winter and the hottest days of summer is just the foundation. The will needs to be well honed. After the training is successful, strong logistics are needed. Only then can a serious master be created. However, the cost of creating a master is so high that it makes people feel desperate. Gradually, people who practice physical training disappear. Why? Because it is not worth it, it is too expensive.

Rich people don’t have the perseverance and persistence. Poor people, even if they have inherited the tradition, will find that their money can’t keep up with their practice and they will stop where they are. If they continue to practice forcefully, their Qi and blood will be depleted and they will probably die. If they don’t continue to practice, they will just stay where they are and they will only be able to practice for so many years. After that, when they make money, it will be too late.

Therefore, body training is not a cost-effective business.

That's why Yang Menglan was so opposed to Cao Wei's physical training.

There is no point and no need.

"It's no problem, don't worry. Without someone's guidance, it's impossible to get started in such a short time." Grandpa Yang took a sip of tea happily.